c1880s.
Image shows the detail on an advertising poster for Emanuel Mortimer's grocery store located in Lowtown at the corner of Crimbles Road, (now Kent Road). Loose tea was on sale, varying in price from 1s 2d and 2 shillings per pound, depending on quality. The tea blends have interesting names like 'Rich Marvellous Tea', 'Malty Morning', Tea of Emotional Strength' and 'Pure Economical Soo-Moo'. The poster states that 'E. Mortimer is amongst the largest buyers of the 19th century, and sells at Wholesale Merchants Prices, thus saving his customers 20 to 30 per cent compared with ordinary dealers.' Sugar is also advertised in differing varieties. At this time Emanuel Mortimer had another shop in Lowtown, at the corner with Hammerton Fold and run by his nephew, James Booth. The two shops were known as the 'top' and 'bottom' shop. This poster refers to the bottom shop and it had a different customer base to the top shop. It catered more for the working class in the locality whereas the top shop supplied to the middle classes, tradesmen and shopkeepers. Image and information courtesy of John Garnett.
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c1880s.
Black and white poster advertising some of the many groceries on sale at Emanuel Mortimer's shop in the 1880s. These include dried fruits and tinned fruit in syrup. There are tinned meats, including 2lb tins of finest boiled rabbit for 1s and 1d, and fish, like lobster at 7½d for a 1lb tin. Fresh butter is supplied twice a week and comes from Denmark and Ireland. There are several brands of soap, varying in price and quality. Pears soap, a glycerine based soap, first produced by Andrew Pears in 1789, can still be purchased today although the formula has changed over the years. Emanuel Mortimer had two grocer's shops, both located in Lowtown and referred to as the 'top' and 'bottom' shop. The one advertised in this poster is the bottom shop, situated at the corner with Crimbles Road (nowadays Kent Road). It catered more for the working classes while the top shop, at the junction with Hammerton Fold, later to be known as Booth's Yard, attracted customers from the middle classes. Image and information courtesy of John Garnett.[internal reference; 2010106_171282:LEO 6361]

1980.
View of a Grade II listed shop property at number 22 Lowtown at the corner with Booth's Yard, formerly Hammerton Fold. It takes its name from the Booth family who ran number 22 Lowtown as a Grocery, beginning with James Booth (1844-1914) in the 19th century. He was the nephew of Emanuel Mortimer, also a grocer. James Booth had been apprenticed to his uncle until 1867 when Emanuel Mortimer purchased the former chemist's, number 22 Lowtown along with property in Hammerton Fold. He entrusted his nephew with the management of the second of his grocery stores. The first was located at the corner of Crimbles Road (now Kent Road) with Lowtown. The 1881 census records James Booth at the shop seen here at the age of 37, his wife Louisa, 33, daughters, Annie Louise, 7 and Sarah Edith, 3, and 1 year-old James Cecil. A second son was born in 1886, Major William Booth. Major William Booth grew up to be a talented cricketer, and was chosen to play for Yorkshire C.C. In 1914 he joined the Leeds Pals regiment and was killed at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The shop is built in thin coursed sandstone and is late 18th or early 19th century. The shop fronts were fitted c1880. The shop next door, to the left, number 20 Lowtown, and the whole of Booth's Yard are also Grade II listed. On the death of Emanuel Mortimer in 1889, James Booth took over and expanded the business, acquiring more property in Hammerton Fold. His son, James Cecil, continued to run the grocery from his father's death in 1914 until he himself died in 1949. Keeping the name of Jas C. Booth, as seen here, former apprentice, Harold Wallbank carried on until 1982. Image and information courtesy of John Garnett.[internal reference; 2010104_171260:LEO 6343]

early 1900s.
View of Church Lane from the junction with Main Street. On the extreme left Garforth Parochial School is visible. The playground is surrounded by iron railings which were later melted down for the war effort in the Second World War. Many children are in view on the pavement in front of the railings. Opposite the school there are some old shop properties that were demolished to build Garforth Library, which opened in 1969, and also some new houses. Included in these old shops was Shackleton's Bakery and Mortimer's Greengrocer's. Mortimer Close, off Church Lane, is named after the greengrocer. The school closed in 1990 and was demolished in 1994. Garforth Medical Centre was constructed on the site. In February 2010 a 'new-look' library and One Stop Centre is to open in Garforth, built with a £1.4 million award from the Big Lottery Fund. It is an extension of the 1969 building and will feature 'green' technology.[internal reference; 201028_170246:GARFORTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY C7]

Undated.
View of Church Lane at the junction with Main Street. It shows old shop properties including a dress shop, Shackleton's Bakery and Mortimer's greengrocer's. (A cul-de-sac of bungalows, off Church Lane has been given the name of Mortimer Close after the greengrocer). The library, built in 1969 now occupies the site of the buildings nearest the camera. It has recently been refurbished and extended to include a One-Stop centre and opened in February 2010.[internal reference; 201028_170249:GARFORTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY C10]